Light emitted by LED's is often coupled into thin light guides that carry and distribute light along a path to a light emitting surface. One or more LED's may be embedded into a light guide to form a luminaire or, the LED's may be separate from the light guide but positioned so that the light emitted from the LED is coupled into it.
It is desirable to provide light guides in a variety of shapes that can be fixed around objects such as pillars or furniture to create different lighting effects and aesthetic lighting designs. It is therefore common to use a transparent thermoplastic, such as poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA). The material is heated beyond its glass transition temperature allowing the shape of the wave guide to be altered by forming the material into the desired shape. Typically, the material is formed over a heated mould and then allowed to cool and set into the required shape. However, this is a difficult and time consuming process.
The present invention seeks to provide a wave guide that can be more easily formed into a desired shape.